Persona Zero
by William Price
Summary: In the beginning there was darkness. At the turn of the century, the Japanese town of Narra is met with ill omens, spontaneous fires from within, eerie noises from the radio, caused by an entity that warns humanity of a coming dark age. In this setting, Igor is born with the power of the persona, humanity's only hope of fighting against the shadow.


Prologue

Mist enveloped in the Velvet room, the lights are lit to near perfection. Igor has an important document in his lap. His face is lit with joy at the end of each sentence. He finishes the report with the swift stroke of his pen. "Excellent," he breathed. The subject of his report showed outstanding performance against the shadows. However, his time had come and Igor must dismiss him. "I will truly miss your performance, Tatsuya." He crosses his name out. Igor felt like this was not the first time he parted with a close friend. A weird deja vu came to mind. He taps the couch, looking at Tatsuay's file. "This sensation..has this happened before?" Igor picks up a ballpoint pen. It glows and the thoughts come to him. The words flow in glowing ink, his memories return piece by piece. "It began a long time ago.. Far away in the country.."

The velvet room lights flicker, the clocks spin in circles and a flash of white light explodes engulfing the room.

Chapter 1

And so my tale began in the lone streets of Nagano. I was a child then, with little to no understanding of this world. My how different I was back then. I don't remember who my parents were or where I was from. The street alleys were all that I was familiar with. People scattered from place to place like Nomads. They carried black boxes with them, dark suits. Some waved to me, but I said nothing. I watched them. Machines moved heavy objects to empty patches of land, littered with bricks. Some buildings had people, talking laughing. Others were destroyed, abandoned. Most of the world was like this.

I saw all of this from above, sitting on a balcony of the old church. Few came to visit, leaving quickly as they had business elsewhere. This place was my harmony. I wonder why couldn't the rest of the world be like this?

Igor yawned as his arms stretched out into the gray morning. He noticed a boy and girl praying. They glanced at him, the boy took the girl by the hand. "Let's go." With that they left. He scratched his head and observed his palms, "We have the same hands." He watched with curiosity, but the nervous pair further evaded him. "Strange boy," he covers her with his arms and marched off leaving Igor behind. He tilted his head, confused. Was he wrong? Was he different? That couldn't be right. He checked his arms again and sighed. Another person avoided him, the third this week.

Since the beginning I lived like this, I.. Spontaneously awakened in a dark church with no one to seek comfort or to console with. I was alone.

Three cats jumped out of the backalley and landed with a soft tap on front of the windowsill. He opened it.

Well not entirely alone.

He petted them and offered a few crumbs. Igor's stomach rumbled. "..It'll have to wait until tomorrow," he sighed and patted his aching belly. "Eat," he whispered. The cats nodded, purring and licked the crumbs from his hand. A bell rang from far away. He turned his attention to the building towering over the neighborhood.

The bell swung left, right, left.

Narra elementary school, that is what the humans called it during that time. All the smaller humans- children came here to learn. I didn't understand it, I never saw a need to learn before.

"They're going home. What did they learn?" He yawns feeling dizzy. "Mew," a kitten pounced on his head. " Hah..Hey, let go," he picked up the cat. Igor felt tired, he rubbed his eyes under his short hair. He crawled into the comfort of a ragged blanket and yawned. "Maybe tomorrow..." Could I go there? Or would they avoid me? Can I fit in.. He thought. Igor would have to make sure he didn't scare them off.

He awoke later that night by a shriek. A sudden heat coated him, Igor jumped to his feet. There was a fire in the church. The floor collapsed in front of him. A gust of wind broke the windows. The fire is climbing up the stairs. They suck up the winds and advance quickly toward him. Igor falls back, he is now pinned in a corner. Just as he thought this would be the end, the roof broke apart at the last minute and he could see the moon. A shining full moon.

A gust whipped the flame and in full reverse sucked up the dancing sparks and disappeared into the night sky. The rays beamed down. As the smoke cleared over Igor's eyes he saw lying on the floor a book with a strang symbol of a masked joker. It looked like a variant of the cards men played with outside.

It flipped opened as he approached it. Igor read the blotted text.

Your journey begins, everything you ever desire will be given to you

In return, you must accept any burden, that may or may not visit you

On this magnificent voyage into the unknown.

Igor was confused by what he meant. His mind pictured the two.. Siblings playing. All his life he spent alone in the church, an entire world awaited him, and a wish. He found a pen hanging loosely from the pages. He wrote it down, Igor.

It wasn't a special name, but that's what they called him: the parents and the kids, because he was different. "I wish.. I wish for friends like me..," Igor let out a wheeze, then collapsed on the floor.

A glass shattered and a man groaned as he climbed up the windowsill. He wore a hardhat and thick clothing. "Sergeant, there's someone here," he leaped forward and caught Igor in his arms, "It's a boy."

The monitors beeps at a steady rhythm. A nurse comes in the room to sweep the curtains. She passes by a hospital rickety mattress. "Argh," Igor tosses and turns. He pushes the blankest off, covered in sweat. The nurse comes over and puts her hand over her forehead with a small smile, "Your temperature seems, fine. Did you have a nightmare?" Igor moved back, shaking his head. "My, such a shy boy! Don't worry, I won't bite," she offered his hand. Igor took a look around, then took her hand. "You were unconscious for a few days. You're going to be okay though."

Igor looked at her with nervous eyes. A child was laughing somewhere, he could hear the laughing echoes form an open door leading into the hallway. "W-Was that a child?"

"You mean kid? Yes, you're in the nursery after all, haha."

"Nursery? Why am I here?" he looked confused. A blonde girl runs in the room giggling. She dives under the bed. Igor looked under the bed, "Oh, you f-found me. ..Hm, I didn't know you were playing."

"Where am I?" She laughed, "You're in the hospital, silly!" "Hospital?" Igor proclaimed.


End file.
